Night Encounter
by TunaForDesert
Summary: "Would you like to listen? It's quite a long story." He should go home now. He still had that quiz tomorrow after all. However, instead of turning around and leave, he found himself sitting on another swing, facing the opposite side of Kuroko was facing. "I've got all night." (Prequel of Hold, Guide and Love) Warning: grammar mistakes.


**A/N**: Here we go again. I'm constantly switching between MidoKuro and TakaKuro.

Start.

* * *

"Aaaaaagghh…I'm dying!" Takao collapsed on the bench in their locker room. The others looked equally tired, but they fared better than the dying Hawk Eye of their team. Midorima was probably the only one who did not look as if he was threatening to collapse anytime soon. Training had been particularly harsh because Winter Cup was approaching. Their coach had not been very lenient about their training menu, arranging it as he saw fit, which meant pushing them to their limit. Not that they had any complain.

"Hey, how about we go to that restaurant Shin-chan and I went to last time? They serve the best okonomiyaki ever," Takao grinned despite his screaming limbs.

Midorima looked ticked, "If I remember correctly, you did not actually eat anything. How would you know their okonomiyaki is the best?"

"Whatever. I'll pass," Miyaji closed his locker and walked out of there. Kimura and Otsubo also did not look available as they swung their bags to their shoulders and said their goodbyes. The other club members had already left earlier so it was only Midorima and Takao who left in the locker room.

"You wanna go?" Takao looked at his teammate from his upside position. Midorima closed his locker and replied, "Not really. We'll have a short quiz tomorrow so I'm going to review for a bit."

Takao cursed silently, forgetting about the quiz. Midorima snorted and walked out of there too. Before closing the door, he said above his shoulder, "Don't forget to turn off the light. And also don't try to go through my locker again. You won't find any dirty magazines you thought I have."

"Wait," Takao called out, sluggishly supporting his upper body part to look at his teammate, "you're not going to-"

"With your current condition, I doubt you could even walk. Let alone pulling the cart. Now excuse me and good evening," Midorima closed the door. Takao grinned mirthfully, "Such a tsundere." He muttered to the silent room. He sighed and dragged his body to his locker, pulling out his shampoo and shower gel before heading to the shower room. A good cold shower would do wonder to his body.

About fifteen minutes later, a fully refreshed Takao burst into the locker room again. He enjoyed having the space all for himself. Nobody would complain about anything and he felt unrestricted about walking around in half nude. He reached for his locker to get his uniform, bag and shoes. After putting on his uniform, he saw a bottle that was not supposed to be inside his locker, with a short memo stuck on it.

_Take this. It's your lucky item for today. This is why I said you should start following Oha-asa already, nanodayo._

Takao grinned at his friend's note. He grabbed the bottle and inspected it. It was the brand he usually used too. Honestly, can't Midorima just give him the ointment himself? Anyway, he was thankful. He was going to need it if he wanted to stay awake tonight and not give in to his body's tired muscles. Putting the ointment inside his bag, he put his shoes on, leaving the tennis shoes inside his locker. He grabbed the towel he used and hung it inside the locker too. Satisfied now that all his possessions were arranged neatly, he closed the locker and walked to the door. Closing the door behind him, he noticed that it was getting real late. He sighed and walked to the gate.

After he entered a busy area of the city, he fished out his headphones from his bag that was attached to his MP3 and put it on his ears. He whistled along the rhythm as he strolled easily with the bustle of people around him. His body still ached but it was still better. He was walking passed a park when his sharp eyes caught something. Normally, the first thing that would enter someone's mind when they saw a suspicious almost invisible figure would be ghost. Takao did freak out, before his jaw dropped as he recognized the baby blue hair and dark uniform with blue linings.

Kuroko Tetsuya.

His eyebrows furrowed. _What is he doing here?_ He stopped the music playing on his MP3 and lowered the headphones to his neck. Walking curiously to his friend's former teammate, he noted Kuroko's hunched figure on the swing. _What the heck am I doing?_ Takao gulped slowly. He should just turn around and go home, but his gut was telling him something else entirely. He was standing right behind the teen when his ears caught Kuroko mumbling under his breathe.

"-so stupid. I was just bringing grief to myself. If only I'd just…."

Takao's eyes widened comically when Kuroko started sniffing slowly along with occasional sobs.

_W-wait, is he __**crying**__?_

Kuroko Tetsuya, his so-called destined rival, the former sixth man of the legendary Generation of Miracles, the teen with the well-known blank face, was _crying_?

Takao awkwardly stood there. He had no idea what to do. All his initial plan of talking to the teen flew out of the window the instant his brain registered what was happening. He took a step back. But luck was not on his side when he crushed a small branch of tree under his foot. Grimacing at the sound, he prepared himself as Kuroko turned around.

"T-Takao-kun?"

Cursing inwardly, Takao smiled awkwardly as he tried to get his brain working again, "H-hey, sorry for disturbing you."

Kuroko tried to be subtle as he wiped his tears using his sleeve, "How long have you been there?" his voice had returned to its original tone, but it was still slightly raspy.

"A while…." Takao replied. Kuroko nodded slowly, "Sorry, I did not realize you were there."

_I'm the one who should apologize for sneaking up on you, although it is unintentional._

"Why were you crying?" slapping his mouth in horror, Takao's eyes widened comically. The question just ran out of his mouth without much warning and consent.

The shorter teen looked a bit amused, before a bitter smile crossed his thin lips. Takao did not know why, but the picture gave a mixture of feelings to him. He felt his heart wrenched slightly. But at the same time, he was in awe at the perfection Kuroko Tetsuya currently was. He never noticed it, but Kuroko Tetsuya had a quite exquisite beauty. It was not flashy like that model-what's-his-name. It was subtle and quiet. Just like the person himself. Beautiful was the perfect word.

_Whoa whoa there! What was that?_

Kuroko tilted his head upward. The rare although bitter smile was still on his pale face. Takao swallowed his saliva.

"Would you like to listen? It's quite a long story."

He should go home now. He still had that quiz tomorrow after all. However, instead of turning around and leave, he found himself sitting on another swing, facing the opposite side of Kuroko was facing.

"I've got all night."

XXX

Flopping down on his bed, Takao sighed tiredly. He had missed dinner. His body ached. And it was one in the morning. But it did not matter to him at the moment. Recalling what Kuroko had silently told him, Takao felt grief for the teen. The boy's history with his former teammates had not been all that perfect. In fact, Takao would not dare to put himself in Kuroko's shoes. A caring partner that eventually became his lover, teammates that relied on him on some occasion, friends that acknowledged him and not ignore him like most of the society do, Kuroko had all of that.

Before it was snatched away from him before his very eyes.

A sudden idea hit him. Takao grinned slowly. He searched his pocket for his phone. He may not be able to give Kuroko what he once had, but he wished to return some light into those beautiful eyes. Besides, he was sure that not even _Kagami_ would know what Kuroko had just told him.

So it was up to him to bring Kuroko out of that shell.

"Hey, you wanna hang out tomorrow after practice? There's this awesome movie I've been _dying_ to watch and there's this super cool café right beside the cinema-"

The thought of spending time with Kuroko had nothing to do with the butterflies in his stomach. None at all.

* * *

End of prequel.

**A/N**: So what do you think? I've been reading too much Hetalia because that last speech from Takao sounds like something America or Prussia would say.


End file.
